State, Crime, and Violence in Mexico, 1920-2000: Arbiters of Impunity, Agents of Coercion

Argues that the post-revolutionary Mexican state developed not as one protection racket but two: an orthodox/licit racket collecting tax from businesses in return for protection of property and persons, and an illicit racket collecting extortion from criminal groups in return for protection from prosecution. Published in Past & Present, Vol. 266, No. 1, pp. 229-263.